RECIPE BOX: Have a peachy day

The Georgia Peach Council created Peach Cobbler Day in the 1950s to sell canned peaches. The rough look of the pie gives the dish its name. It looks “cobbled” together. Early American settlers invented peach cobbler.

The perfect cobbler has a gooey fruit center encrusted with a sweet breaded top layer. A runny cobbler usually means that the fruit used in the dish was extra juicy. You can correct the runny cobbler by adding a thickening agent. Make sure you fix the filling before you spoon over the topping.

A cobbler that bakes in the oven isn’t to be mixed up with another cobbler we do not hear much about anymore. A cobbler is someone who fixes shoes. A cobbler is also a type of fruit pie. Cobblers mend shoes. If your heel is falling off or there's a rip in your shoe, a cobbler can help you out.

Nowadays, people are more likely to buy a new pair of shoes than fix an old one, but cobblers used to be very common. Most modern cobblers own small businesses known as shoe repair shops.

Cobblers have been around for about as long as shoes. Today, some cobblers are also shoemakers. Historically, though, those two professions have been separate.

World War I brought new opportunities for the Girl Scout movement. The young ladies began to collect and dry fruit pits and nut shells:

A CAMPAIGN FOR PITS

Gather up the peach pits,

Olive pits as well.

Every prune and date seed

Every walnut shell.

Magazine articles explained that “200 peach pits or seven pounds of nut shells produced enough carbon for one filter for a soldier’s gas mask.” With the German military deploying highly toxic chlorine gas against the Allied troops, the Red Cross and other organizations launched peach pit collection drives across the country. 

The Girl Scouts rose to the occasion, and three Washington, DC, Girl Scouts, all under age 13, were declared “Peace Pit Champions.” Fresh peaches are in season and plentiful for the picking. My family is watching our peach tree closely in hopes of our first harvest this year. We cobbled up a peach cobbler this week and it was delicious! Enjoy the sweet summer fruit and have a peachy week! 

Cobbler Cobbler, mend my shoe

Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe.

Get it done by half past two.

Half past two is much too late.

Get it done by half past eight.

Stitch it up and stitch it down.

And I’ll give you half a crown.

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Peach Cobbler 

INGREDIENTS

·         1 cup self-rising flour

·         3/4 cup granulated sugar, (plus 2 additional Tablespoons for topping)

·         1/2 cup butter, divided (and melted separately)

·         1 (29 ounce) can sliced peaches in heavy syrup, undrained

INSTRUCTIONS

·         Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

·         In a medium-size mixing bowl coarsely mix the flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, and 1/4 cup melted butter together. You can add a dash of cinnamon here if you want too.

·         Sprinkle about one-third of the flour mixture on the bottom of an 9x9 baking dish. The flour mixture will slightly mix with the syrup of the peaches while baking and thicken it up a bit.

·         Add the peaches with their juice to the dish. If you like your cobbler on the dry side don't add all of the liquid. 

·         Sprinkle the top of the peaches with the remaining sugar/flour mixture. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Drizzle with the remaining 1/4 cup of on melted butter on top of the batter. There will be a lot of liquid and it will look wet. Don't worry, the flour mixture will soak up the liquid.

·         Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and bubbly. Let cobbler sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

·         Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

·         This can easily be doubled in a 9x13 baking dish.